


The Most Powerful (Pillowfight)

by wakandan_wardog



Series: Wardog's Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Pillow Fights, Positive Screaming, Team as Family, The Team Aggressively Supports Each Other, compliments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 10:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18915079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakandan_wardog/pseuds/wakandan_wardog
Summary: In which Carol and Tony (aggressively) support each other and then do battle (with pillows) for their honor. Or each other's honor? It's unclear, things got out of control. (James Rhodes loves these idiots way too much.)This is a fill for the TSB 2019 Square: T2: A BATTLE/FIGHT/CONFRONTATION





	The Most Powerful (Pillowfight)

Rhodey is aware, in many ways, of the betrayal implicit in his actions. Though frankly, at this point, he has been on his own for over two decades and he deserves a tap out. Which means, naturally, that now she’s back in their orbit Carol is the one he tags in. So yeah, he sets them both up for it, he does, but in his defense, he knows it’s going to be hysterical, and that the team is not prepared for the fireworks heading their way.

It is because of this that he grins, sharply and a little wickedly, to himself as he greets her at the doorway with a thankful, “There you are!”

“Here I am?” Carol echoes, down to regular pants he would bet are borrowed from Natasha and wearing his old MIT shirt. Her boots are her own, but the way her feet are stuffed into them he can tell she’ll kick them off as soon as she gets the chance. The rest of her gear has been removed, stripped off in whatever room she claimed as her own and left there.

“About time,” He grins as he catches her by the now unbracered wrist and tows her across the plush living room.

“Swank digs, Rhodester,” Carol admires as she glances around the room. “What are you doin’ for the military that they pay you so well?”

“Oh, this?” Rhodey makes a dismissive sound, flapping his free hand as they wind their way around the gathered team. “This ain’t my place, it belongs to Tones. You remember him, don’tcha Danvers?”

“Pint-Sized Princess Stark?” Carol looks enraptured, an unholy gleam in her eyes. “Boy do I ever. Don’t get to do much reading about C-53 shenanigans but when I do, somehow that kid’s name always comes up.”

“Thought you’d want a chance to talk to him,” Rhodey admits, and pitches her past him like a game of crack the whip, swinging her to a full halt in front of the man himself. “Stark, Danvers, Danvers, Stark.”

“Holy shit,” They say in unison, Tony blinking wide-eyed over his coffee mug and Carol stumbling to a halt when Rhodey abruptly cuts her loose.

“You’re supposed to be dead!”

The commentary in stereo is absurdly hilarious, so Rhodey leaves them to it with a snicker and steps back out of range.

“You’re an actual space woman now,” Stark says after several heartbeats of silence. “Like, is the old tradition still in effect? Drinks for Danvers, on the house, she’s clearly the biggest badass here tonight.”

“Ok, no, stopping you right there,” Carol says as Clint obediently steps to the bar and begins making drinks. “Because I’m sorry, but the award for biggest, brassiest balls once again goes to you, Science Brat. How does it feel to be the guy that, what was it, privatized world peace? You know there’s an actual tribe in space that worships you as a deity, right?”

“Wow, I could have gone lightyears without him knowing that part,” Rhodey winces to himself. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

“Why the hell would they do that?” Tony wonders, honestly bewildered. “Like, have they not seen you? YOU SHOOT PHOTON BLASTS FROM YOUR HANDS!”

“Excuse you,” Danvers hisses, and Steve takes a step forward because that tone doesn’t sound friendly.

Except, somehow it totally is? Because the next minute she’s complimenting Stark in the most aggressive way Steve has ever heard anyone do so. “YOU DESIGNED AND BUILT REPULSOR TECH THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DO THAT, I JUST STOOD TOO CLOSE TO AN EXPLODING ENGINE.”

“Oh dear,” Natasha murmurs, perching on the couch with a glint in her eyes. “I can’t wait to hear how this escalates.”

“I don’t know about this,” Bruce mumbles, hesitant and caught between bolting for the door and staying for the show.

“YOU CAN FLY OUT INTO SPACE AND DESTROY ENTIRE ATTACKING FLEETS!” Tony argues. “Who cares if I made a concussive device that can produce lift?”

“Don’t get me started, Stark!” Carol volleys back, her voice a hiss.

It’s weird that she’s a mix of intimidating and the girl they used to know, stripped out of her Captain Marvel gear and wearing one of Rhodey’s old MIT shirts. Rhodey can’t help but admire her.

Carol makes a slashing gesture with one hand, cutting Tony’s muttered protest off. “Don’t you dare make me point out the sheer idiotic courage required for an untrained civilian to design and pilot a custom-made military grade battle suit and fly it half-way around the world to save people he’s never even met.”

Tony’s eyes are wide, his hair is wild, he looks like a maniac wearing his classic Black Sabbath shirt and jeans. “You heard there was a war on and immediately volunteered to fly an untested plane into SPACE TO HELP STOP IT.”

Stunned silent, Clint Barton sits back on a couch, a large bowl of popcorn and a drink in hand as he hunches over his knees, watching the two argue with wide, eager eyes. At his side Natasha reclines with a cool smile, one hand creeping into the massive popcorn bowl balanced on the archer’s knee.

“He has a point,” Rhodey admits to the nearest Avengers.

Bruce Banner, normally put off by loud voices, looks beyond amused as the two heroes scream validation at each other in increasingly shrill tones. Thor just stands to one side, arms folded over his chest, smiling as he hears new tales of the bravery of his comrades. Rhodey glances at them all and retreats back to the furthest point, content to watch at a distance so the team can get an up close and personal look at what his entire college career was like.

“This is like one of Cap’s team building exercises gone insanely wrong,” Barton observes, tossing Steve a glance. “But in like, the best way possible? So, good job?”

“Not my idea,” Steve admits ruefully.

“You’re a pioneer in the military, a shining beacon for women who want to enter the service!” Tony screams in sheer desperation. “You climbed into an untested plane, during a top-secret operation, and flew it into SPACE.”

“It wasn’t untested! I TESTED IT!” Carol argues. “AND YOU SHOULD TALK. WHO BROKE THE RECORD FOR FIXED WING FLIGHT -SET BY A BLACKBIRD, MAY I ADD- IN A SUIT HE BUILT IN HIS GODFORSAKEN BASEMENT!”

“It’s my fault,” Rhodes grins from his place in the doorway. He leans against the frame, arms crossed over his chest, and watches the two standing near the center of the room howling their compliments. “It’s been a long time since we saw Carol, so…”

“IT WAS BUILT IN A WORKSHOP!” Tony shrills, properly scandalized. “WITH THE HELP OF AN AI.”

Rhodey knows that workshop, knows JARVIS, and knows exactly what Carol’s ammo is going to be before she returns fire.

“Ok, SURE! BUILT IN THE WORKSHOP WITH THE AI, BOTH OF WHICH YOU BUILT, AGAIN, IN YOUR BASEMENT!” Carol yells back. “AND AI, TONY, REALLY? A FIELD YOU PRACTICALLY INVENTED SO YOU COULD GRADUATE MIT.”

“WELL, I ALREADY HAD THE DOCTORATES I WANTED!” Tony snarls. “THE MILITARY WASN’T ABOUT TO ACCEPT ME IN A TOP SECRET PILOT PROGRAM WITH A SECRET ALIEN SCIENTIST. UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE.”

“SO THE ALIENS WOULDN’T COME TO YOU AND YOU DECIDED YOU’D FLY TO SPACE TO MEET THEM?” Carol returns. “Let’s talk about New York, shall we, IDIOT? FLYING WITH A WARHEAD ON YOUR BACK? YES, YES I HEARD ABOUT IT AND DON’T YOU GLARE AT RHODEY! IT’S NOT HIS FAULT YOU FAILED TO TELL ME.”

“I DIDN’T KNOW I HAD TO CALL THE OTHER END OF THE UNIVERSE, OR I WOULD HAVE.” Tony shrieks. “YOU WERE OUT THERE PLAYING SPACE COP, THE LEAST I COULD DO WAS LOOK OUT FOR EARTH.”

“YES, GUARDING THE PLANET BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO! WAY MORE NOBLE THAN BEING BRAINWASHED BY THE ASSHOLE WHO SHOT YOUR MENTOR INTO UNKNOWINGLY PARTICIPATING IN A SLOW AND METHODICAL GENOCIDE.” Carol counters. “YOU’RE THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL, HEADSTRONG, SELF-SACRIFICING IDIOT I’VE EVER MET. SHUT UP AND ACCEPT THAT, YOU’RE A GODDAMN HERO.”

“YOU’RE A HERO!” Tony snaps.

“WHAT ARE YOU, FIVE?” Carol yells, rolling her eyes.

“You better just head to the kitchen and get some food.” Rhodes sighs. “They’ll be at this for a few hours, at least.”

“This is better than any telenovela I have ever watched, in any language,” Clint mumbles around a fistful of popcorn. “Please don’t change the channel, I must know what happens next.”

“WAS THAT A SHOT ABOUT MY AGE, DANVERS?” Tony puffs up, looking riled and indignant but not really imposing.

“I can go back to commenting on your boundless heroism and pathological disregard for safety?” Carol counters sweetly. “How about we start with: Afghanistan.”

Tony whips around, beyond scandalized, beyond irate. He’s practically aghast, staring at her with wide dark eyes. “Don’t you dare,”

“You built a suit, in a cave in the desert,” Carol hisses. “As a hostage, by yourself, in what, Tones? Two days? And you flew yourself out of that hellhole when everyone had given up on you. You magnificent bastard, I’d kill you if I didn’t want to kiss you so much.”

“So I saved my own neck, it was nothing,” Tony tries to brush it off. Looks soft and sad. “I failed to save, I mean.. I wasn’t alone, Yinsen….”

He trails off, like the words dried up, like he’s choking on them. “I’m not a hero, they told me that when I came back. It’s still true.”

Carol glares at him, spinning away from him after a moment to pace the room. She stomps toward the couch, toward Barton and Romanoff, until Clint scrambles sideways to perch on the arm like he’s afraid she’ll throw herself onto his lap. She doesn’t even spare him a glance, snatching up a throw pillow as she spins on her heel, takes aim, and chucks it.

It flies across the room and pelts Tony in the face.

“You idiot,” Carol murmurs as the pillow hits the ground, as Stark and the rest of the team gape at her. “I don’t care what the press says, Tony. If they don’t think you’re a hero? They don’t know a fucking thing. And once I’m done kickin’ your ass in this pillow fight, you just try and stop me from goin’ down there to tell them so.”

“Did you just pillow spike me… in my own tower?” Tony hisses, voice low and vicious as he snatches up the pillow. “Oh Danvers, it is _on_. Do they even have pillows in space? I bet you’re out of practice.”

“Pretty sure it’s like riding a bike,” Danvers says, snatching up another pillow and stepping toward him at a hunter’s pace. “If you live through this unholy feathering, you’re going to be writing self-affirmation lines for the next three days. _‘Tony Stark is Amazing. Tony Stark is a Hero. Carol Danvers says so, and Carol Danvers is always right,’_ you hear me?”  

“I stopped listening when you suggested you were gonna win this fight,” Tony admits casually. “You may be the most powerful Avenger, Danvers, but I am the Pillow Fight Emperor. You’re going _down_.”

Tony hefts his pillow, takes aim, and wings it.

The room erupts into chaos, and in the doorway, James Rhodes laughs like he hasn’t laughed in decades.

It's good to have his friends back. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, [camphalfwhat](https://camphalfwhat.tumblr.com/post/185045028831/tony-and-carol-arguing-over-who-is-more-powerful) did a thing on tumblr and then I did a [mini-post](https://wakandan-wardog.tumblr.com/post/185045984330/tony-and-carol-arguing-over-who-is-more-powerful) because my hand slipped... and then [lazyartist04](https://lazyartist04.tumblr.com/post/185049120302/tony-and-carol-arguing-over-who-is-more-powerful) reblogged the thing I did and made a comment about a pillow fight so my hand slipped again? Anyway, here we are.
> 
> I'm just out here aggressively supporting Tony Stark on main, people. Join me.


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